Ever read a story and been transported to another place? No, I’m not talking about reading a newspaper on the subway. Consider this tale from the owner of A Traveler’s Library:

When I was in high school, I snitched an adult novel from my mother’s stack of books. The romance/adventure was set on a South Pacific Island and I wanted to go there. I read James Michener’s Hawaii, and I wanted to go there. I saw a movie set in Ireland and I wanted to go there.

Vera Marie Badertscher has begun to amass a library of books and movies that pluck the heartstrings of the passionate traveler. Lucky for us, she writes about her discoveries both on the written page and around the world on her blog.

…I looked for books and movies that would be my guide to a different landscape, a different people, a different culture. I have accumulated shelves of books of this kind. You might call them metaphorical guidebooks because they are not literal guidebooks. My travel library contains both fiction and non-fiction, biographies, histories and novels. Mystery novels are the best because the authors must create a strong sense of place. This is what I want to share with you here. Books that inspire and inform your travel. And a few movies that do the same.

Of particular interest to all of us today, Vera has compiled an Earth Day reading list including books by Ann Zwinger, Wesley Powell, and Stephen E. Ambrose, all highlighting the beauty and power of the natural world—specifically the American West. Check it out!

Photo by Dawn Endico